WATCH: We asked Common to freestyle about facts. Here’s what happened
The PBS NewsHour is never freewheeling with facts, but we loved it when Common came to our studio to freestyle about them.
Watch 6:56
A memoir of musical reverence to A Tribe Called Quest
Pioneering hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest crossed musical genres, influenced other artists and delivered social commentary. Their unique sound and chemistry earned them decades of commercial and critical success. A memoir by poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib reveals…
Watch 7:39
The Beastie Boys on rap, friendship and taking a stand for their values
The rap trio Beastie Boys played a formative role in the evolution of American hip-hop music. They have sold millions of albums with their unique blend of rap, rock and humor, all while prioritizing their friendship above their career success.
Oh my God, it’s an homage! A writer imagines the story behind Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’ video
Fan and author Jeff Gomez wrote a five-act novel that seeks to fill in the narrative gaps around the music video for the 1994 song “Sabotage.”…
Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle died Sunday after being gunned down in broad daylight in Los Angeles. In addition to his successful music career, the native of south L.A. was an entrepreneur and activist, dedicated to initiatives supporting youth and the…
At the Oakland Museum of California, a new exhibit traces decades of history of hip-hop, an industry and culture that's both mainstream and underground, global but rooted in the local. Jeffrey Brown reports.
Infectious in beat, jarring in violence and imagery, Donald Glover's new music video "This Is America" touches on painful racial history and our contemporary culture of mass entertainment and murder. Jeffrey Brown talks with Rolling Stone contributor Tre Johnson about…
This year, is it enough for hip hop artists to simply have been nominated at the Grammy awards? Have the ideas they’ve raised in their music about equality, politics and oppression made an impact without an artist taking home a…
The Grammys are catching up with public opinion by recognizing hip-hop artists in its top categories this year. At Harvard University's Hiphop Archive & Research Institute, the genre and its history is the subject of academic study as a brilliant…
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